Nate Marquardt's BAMMA debut will wait for now.
Once targeted to meet Paul Daley (29-11-2) at the upcoming BAMMA 8 event, Marquardt (31-10-2), a onetime UFC middleweight title challenger, will now headline BAMMA 9 opposite UFC vet Yoshiyuki Yoshida (13-6).
Promotion officials today announced that BAMMA 9 is set for Feb. 11 at LG Arena in Birmingham, England, which is the site of this weekend's UFC 138 event.
"Although we had planned for Nate's first fight to be in December, we believe it is worth waiting a further eight weeks for such a great matchup," BAMMA CEO David Green stated.
Marquardt's debut marks his first outing since his release from the UFC, which came after he was not medically cleared by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission in advance of his UFC on Versus 4 headliner with Rick Story. It was later revealed that Marquardt's use of prescribed testosterone caused him to come in above the commission's acceptable levels of the hormone, which nixed his participation in the event. UFC president Dana White immediately released him from his contract.
Yoshida, meanwhile, is two months removed from a decision victory over fellow UFC vet Phil Baroni in the headliner of the inaugural event of the upstart ONE FC promotion based in Singapore. It was his second consecutive win after a three-fight skid that saw him released from the UFC.
BAMMA 8, which takes place Dec. 10 at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England, now features a handful of British standouts and UFC vets. Fresh off a decision win over UFC vet Frank Trigg, Bellator vet Jim Wallhead (22-6) meets Strikeforce and EliteXC vet Joey Villasenor (28-9). Additionally, "The Ultimate Fighter 9" runner-up Andre Winner (12-6-1) continues his road to redemption with a lightweight title eliminator opposite Niko Puhakka (24-11), and recent UFC release Curt Warburton (7-3) makes his debut against Tim Newman (8-2).
Daley's BAMMA fate remains unknown at this time. The hard-slugging vet badly missed weight in his most recent BAMMA appearance and came in five pounds over for a welterweight bout with UFC vet Jordan Radev. He sacrificed a portion of his purse while a faulty sauna was blamed for his gaffe.
Source: Nate Marquardt vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida slated for BAMMA 9 in February